100 Mile runners Kate Leis and Alisha Alness on Mt Trudee in Tettegouche State Park – photo credit Scott Rokis
The Superior 100 Mile Trail Race is held on the Superior Hiking Trail on the north shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota. It was founded in 1991 and is the 9th oldest 100 mile trail race in the country. The list is; Western States (’74), Old Dominion (’79), Wasatch (’80), Leadville (’83), Angeles Crest (’86), Vermont (’89), Mohican (’90), Arkansas Traveler (’91) and Superior (’91). Today, we estimate that there are around 250 one hundred mile races held annually in the United States. Shortly after the inception of the 100, the Superior 50 was founded as a separate event, and the two were later combined. The Moose Mountain Marathon was added to the Fall lineup in 2004. In 2003 a companion event, the Superior Spring Trail Race was added, it takes place each May and has 50KM, 25KM and 12.5KM race distances. 2025 marked the 35th annual Superior 100. Due to both the Spring and Fall races popularity, registration for the races is held via a lottery registration process – not all runners who apply get in. This year 965 runners from 3 countries, 34 states and 183 Minnesota cities were selected to participate via the lottery. Approximately 45% were return runners, and 55% were new to the event. Whether you ran the 100, 50 or 26.2 this year, finished first, last, somewhere in between or did not make it to the finish this time, crewed, paced, spectated or volunteered, we thank you for being an equal and indispensable part of a special few days.
Superior Trail Race runners from above with hints of fall color – photo credit Tone Coughlin
Snow left the trail about when you would expect it to this spring and there was an above average number of trees to clear, in fact it was the most that any of us had seen in years. We worked diligently alongside other Superior Hiking Trail Association volunteers and SHT’s contractor to open the trail for our Spring Race and for the trail season / for all trail users. After all of the tress were cleared, a significant wind storm took down more, and we were all back out clearing again. As our summer progressed, we had some pretty wet stretches of weather in July, but then some nice dry periods in August. Come race week the trails were dry and in good shape. It had been really muggy and warm up until the Wednesday before the race when a front moved in. This brought rain showers and cooler weather for the balance of the week leading into, and for the race itself. Throughout the race, just as runners would start warming up, another rain shower would roll through and cool them off. None of these showers lasted very long or dumped a lot of rain. Most runners reported conditions as being pretty pleasant throughout. 100 milers enjoyed a different race start this year. We had to forgo running the Split Rock Loop due to a trail rehabilitation project. As a result runners did not spread out on the paved Gitchi Gami Bike Trail as they normally would in the early miles, instead we used Gooseberry Falls State Park cross country ski trails and a short stretch of snowmobile trail to do as much, prior to getting on the SHT at Skunk Creek. We will see what future years brings as you you cannot run both the Gooseberry Falls State Park Trails direct to the SHT and run the Split Rock Loop on the same year as this would add (an additional) 4 miles to the 100 mile race, pushing it closer to 107 miles. While skipping those paved early miles is nice, you in turn have to skip the very scenic Split Rock Loop and run a short stretch on the shoulder of Highway 61 – more to come on this in advance of next years 100 mile race.
100 mile winner Rachel Turi above Bean Lake – photo credit Anastasia Wilde
Joel Button taking care of his feet – photo credit Danica Nolton
A marathon runner just out of Temperance River Aid Station – photo credit Katrina Gaisford
Tyler Morey takes the 50 mile win and breaks the course record by 25 minutes – photo credit Jamison Swift
For the uninitiated you might expect the overriding theme at a ‘trail race’ to be competition. While there certainly is, and we celebrate it, there is significantly more going on; mentally, emotionally, spiritually, metaphysically, both within individuals and the collective group. While its a funny turn of phrase, what kept popping into my head over and over again at Superior this year was ‘love is in the air’, and coincidentally during and after the race I heard the same from a number of people. Its less than 50 miles as the crow flies between where the 100 mile race starts at Gooseberry Falls State Park and finishes at Caribou Highlands Lodge on Lutsen Mountain, but within that 50 mile stretch, over a period 38 hours, 10’s of thousands of small acts of selflessness, kindness, and love are shared between a few thousand people. These acts are happening at a rate of dozens per minute throughout the event. Depending on how sensitive your tuner, this can be a moving if not an almost overwhelming experience as you travel through the physical and emotional landscape that we call Superior. There is little else like it anywhere and we should all count ourselves among the blessed to get to experience it. One of our oft volunteer photographers said to me in an email exchange this week; “The actual running photos are fine and all, but I do love those inbetween moments of people just loving on one another and supporting eachother.” See the photo highlights gallery as evidence. Read my volunteer thank you for more on this theme.
Speaking of competition, poll the top 10 finishers at most any trail / ultra race about what motivates them and their list will align with just about everyone else at the race – trail people are trail people regardless of pace. A personal challenge, enjoyment, transcendence, it beats work, to name just a few. But for talent, extraordinary amounts of hard work (read; a lot of quick running), and a competitive inner drive these runners find themselves at the tip of the spear, and for many of them, finishing their races in the wee hours of Saturday, through mid-morning, before the finish line has filled out with other finishers, returning crew / pacers, and other spectators. They just don’t get the big crowds that the late afternoon and evening finisher do. So let’s make some noise for them now! Jakob Wartman took the overall win in the 100. He also took the win at another historic Minnesota Ultra earlier this year, the Voyageur 50 miler in July. He is the fourth person ever to do this (significant local) double; Neal Collick 2017, Jake Hegge 2015, April Anselmo 2013, Helen Lavin 2008. Rachel Turi took the women’s 100 mile win this year. Rachel is the dietician on staff with with our longtime sponsor Trail Transformation. Trail Transformation heads up the Crosby-Manitou Aid Station each year. While she is no longer living in Minnesota she has a long history with our events as a sponsor, volunteer, and runner. We will thrilled to have Rachel back, along her dad Scott (previous Superior 100 Mile finisher himself) and sister Emily in tow, as her crew. Keeping with the theme, race sponsor Tyler Morey (North Coast Running) not only took the 50 mile win, he also shaved a staggering 25 minutes off of the course record. It is not hyperbole, Superior 50 is a very hard, and very slow running 50 mile race, and this new CR is really something. Having won the Moose Mountain Marathon in 2024, both the Superior Spring Trail Race 50K and Superior 50 mile in 2025, hopefully we can convince Tyler to run the Superior Spring 25K and the Superior Fall 100 in 2026 – then he will just have the Spring 12.5K left in 2027! On the women’s side of the 50, former University of Minnesota Duluth Bulldog Michelle SanCartier took the win. In the Marathon Tony Hoff took the overall win, just a couple of weeks prior he placed second at the Marquette 50K. Almost always in the top 3 at local trail races, Gabby Vandendries took the women’s win. Scott Brantner took the win in the non-binary division, bettering the previous course record in that division.
Until this year only 11 individuals had 10 or more finishes at the Superior 100 – with her finish this year Tracy Denbleyker became the 12th. In 2022 David Van De Meerendonk became the youngest ever finisher of the 50 mile at the age of 15. In 2023 David became the youngest ever to finish the 100 mile race at the age of 16. In 2024 he finished the Mines of Spain 100. This year he returned to Superior and finished the 100 again at the age of 18. The 50 miler at Superior is an interesting race. Many use it as a stepping stone to the 100, while many others, knowing how grueling it is, opt for the marathon. Despite that, there are those with multiple finishes at the race (many stop after 5, only one has 10). This year Claire Bush, Paul Gorton and Gabe Wilson all completed their 4th Superior 50. Bruce Anderson got his 17th finish at the Moose Mountain Marathon, he boldly declared (I guess he does this every year) that this was his last. Steve Hagedorn & Lonny Beck finished their 15th, Travis Brouillard his 13th, Abigail Davis, John Horns and Steve Tollerud their 12th, Susan Ash, John Ayres and Keli Cristofaro their 10th. A few others finished their 9th and we look forward to shouting out their 10th right here next year. Steve Hennessy was the final finisher of this years race. Steve embarked on a multi-year project to do the Superior 100. While he knew he would be near the back of the pack and likely pushing cutoffs towards the end, he trained diligently with that in mind. In his countless training trips to the north shore this year he also spent significant time clearing trees from the race course on a year that saw an extraordinary number of downed trees, and passed along valuable intel. After just just squeaking thorough the cutoff at Oberg he finished in 37:55:11. We all had a few less trees to step over, or duck under, thanks to Steve.
These are very very good friends – photo credit Anastasia Wilde
100 mile runner on Sawmill Dome on Friday evening – photo credit Tone Coughlin
A gift from our resident author, and poet, Kevin Langton – Enjoy.
Moose Mountain
We are almost home now.
But one could get lost
among the ghosts in
this milky ridgeline fog.
We could steal a minute of sleep,
just a short nap on the soft
wet sugar maple leaf floor.
We could dream forever
in this grave and run
with the Ojibway, the Finns,
the mastodon, the mammoth
and caribou. We could watch
the glaciers come and go
and grind boulders
into muscle and sand.
It took work to get here,
this climb a slow quiet
funeral. It will take work
to leave. Movement heavy
as thunder, our burden buried
by the weight of so much
water, salt, teeth, bones, skin.
The ghosts swim this fog,
slide between our legs
and circle the smoking
fireweed. They whisper
cradlesongs and lost
recipes of healing.
The way off the ridge is
always down, a steep, wet slide.
Gravity ferries us lower
to the ancient cedar swamp,
into another layer of the past,
another way forward.
Silver Bay aid station volunteers – photo credit Anastasia Wilde
Volunteers:
Just over 400 volunteers came together to make this year’s race a success. Most are oft runners and volunteers from our local running community, some are friends and families of runners. The most incredible may be those volunteers that have never run a step in their lives but believe wholeheartedly in the goodness that our event creates in the world. There is also no shortage of 50 milers and marathoners who volunteer on Friday and run on Saturday, nor is there any shortage of 100, 50 or 26.2 mile runners that come help with cleanup at our home on Monday. While I would never tell someone they are doing it wrong, I would say that if you are only running races and not volunteering, you are depriving yourself of a very special gift. Our trail marking crew are multi-year / return volunteers all who have committed themselves to learning our system of marking over the years. Just over 40 individuals, working in teams of 3 marked all 102.9 miles of trail on the Thursday before the race. They also performed some last minute trail clearing and tune up. The sweepers are also generally folks who have made multi-year commitments and work to keep the entire race safe, and on track. Our logistics team drop off, keep stocked, and then pick up tens-of-thousands of pounds of gear, water and food. Our Friday setup crew gets everything in place and set up at the finish line for the weekend, greet runners in the morning to load the buses and so on. Skilled teams of Aid Station Workers, Medical, HAM Radio / Communications, Runner Tracking, Timing, Photography, Packet Pickup, Race Start, Finish Line volunteers and more go above and beyond each and every year. I encourage you to take the time to read the volunteer recap / thank you HERE https://www.superiorfalltrailrace.com/thank-you-letter-to-volunteers-2025/ – if you want to see the relative enormity of what it takes to pull off Superior see HERE https://www.superiorfalltrailrace.com/volunteer-assignments/ A large percentage of the trail running community routinely volunteers. If you have not yet, give yourself the gift of doing as much… with RSR or at another race, either would be great. We all make this go.
Planting seeds – photo credit Scott Rokis
Photos:
The majority of the photo galleries are in https://www.superiorfalltrailrace.com/photos/ Please keep in mind that some of our photographers sell their photos, some make low res images available for free and sell the high res versions, some will accept tips and some give away the high res images for free. Please look for notes / prompts for each photographer / gallery. All of them put a ton of time into it and have a pile of expensive gear that make having these stunning images possible. As always it is good form to credit (by name) and thank photographers for the photos you are sharing on your social media or elsewhere. If you want to use photos for commercial purposes please contact the photographers directly or contact me if you are unable to find their contact information. If you are a photographer or aspiring photographer and you would like to come shoot some time, please contact us, we would love to have you.
Results and Splits:
Race day / live results were / are available HERE. Official race results are available on our website [ 100M, 50M, 26.2M ]. 100 mile splits can be found HERE. Results have also been uploaded to UltraSignup [ 100M, 50M, 26.2M ] and have been sent into UTMB [ 100M, 50M, 26.2M ] so qualifying points can be awarded to those that wish to apply for those races (UTMB, CCC, TDS, OCC).
| 2025 | Registered | Started | Start % | DNS | DNS % | DNFd | DNF % | Finished | Finish % |
| 100 | 294 | 255 | 87% | 39 | 13% | 79 | 31% | 176 | 69% |
| 50 | 228 | 170 | 75% | 58 | 25% | 29 | 17% | 141 | 83% |
| 26 | 445 | 332 | 75% | 113 | 25% | 6 | 2% | 326 | 98% |
| Total | 967 | 757 | 78% | 210 | 22% | 114 | 15% | 643 | 85% |
Superior run hat
Superior beanie
Wood map and elevation chart prints
Sweatshirts, T-Shirts, Hats and More for Sale:
If you were hoping to, but did not get a chance to purchase something at the race, you can do that on our online store HERE https://www.rocksteadyrunning.com/shop/ – you can use the “filters” on the side of the page to sort and search for specific items.
Rocksteady Community:
The Rocksteady Running Community is an online forum designed for community members to have civil conversations about all things pertaining to Rocksteady Running events (Zumbro, Superior Spring, Afton, Superior Fall, ESTRS), trail / ultrarunning in general, and more. This online forum has been built on our own platform and is not tied to any social media platform. It is free from advertising, invasive algorithms, tracking, etc. We intend for this to be a safe place to connect. Feel free to discuss registering, training for and racing our events. Discussion about the race courses, terrain, training, gear, challenges, triumphs and more are welcomed and encouraged. If you would like to create an account and participate you can do so HERE https://community.rocksteadyrunning.com/login For safety and transparency we ask that you provide both your first and last name when creating an account. My hope is that this forum will be an engaging and useful resource that allows you to connect with one and other.
Sponsors / Partners / Permitors:
Please be sure to check out our awesome sponsors and partners. We have real relationships with all of these businesses / organizations and most of the owners and/or employees are personal friends, they volunteer, captain aid stations, run the races and are part of our local running community. https://www.superiorfalltrailrace.com/sponsors/
Superior Hiking Trail
Caribou Highlands
Visit Cook County
Twin Cities Running Company
Mill City / Saint City Running
Vaniply / Vanicream
Fika Coffee
Trail Transformation
Northwoods Running
Performance Running Gym
Consilience Coaching
Climb Above Endurance Coaching
Discover Strength
North Coast Trail Running
Bridge Realty – Bill Pomerenke
State Farm Insurance – Geri Martin
Bigger Than the Trail
LutZen Massage Studios
Full Sun Services
Mile in My Shoes
Northwest Outlet
Captain Ken’s Chili
Relentless Courage – Jon Howard
Austin Jarrow
St. Croix Law
Critical Connections Ecological Services
Thank you to Caribou Highlands Lodge whose staff go above and beyond year in and year to host the race. Thank you Captain Ken’s for providing the post-race chili.
Thank you to Lutsen Mountain Ski Area for the use of their parking lot.
Thank you to Visit Cook County / Cook County Tourism for all of their support.
Thank you to the US Forest Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, Lake and Cook County, Local EMS / Search and Rescue and all of the communities, locals and local businesses that support our event.
Of course, a huge thank you to the Superior Hiking Trail Association, its staff, board members, members and volunteers.
RSR x MiMS: a Superior Partnership
Last weekend several runners once again added meaning to their miles and celebrated two accomplishments at the finish line: being a Superior Fall Trail Race finisher AND being a Mile in My Shoes Fundracer. These folks applied and were selected to bypass the lottery as MiMS fundraisers. Want to support Mile in My Shoes? You can still donate to the Rocksteady Running fundraising campaign here: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/mile-in-my-shoes/2025-rocksteady-running-fundracing-team and look for more information on how you can become a FundRacer in 2026!
If that sign could talk – photo credit Jon Knutson
Support the Superior Hiking Trail:
A large percentage of you are already Superior Hiking Trail Association members. Many of you who are not, indicated at the time you registered, that you would like to be – here is your chance. Now is a great time to show our support en masse that we, as trail runners support the trail that we love to run! You can join, or make an extra donation to the SHT via the following (custom for Superior Trail Race) links… https://superiorhiking.org/joinsuperior/ and https://superiorhiking.org/donatesuperior/ – The Superior Trail Race will continue its charitable legacy to the Superior Hiking Trail Association with a $3,000 donation in 2025, in addition to ongoing volunteer efforts on the trail itself; building, clearing, maintaining and improving. HERE is an example of how we contribute…
In addition to the normal trail clearing and maintenance that we do, the Superior Trail Race does larger volunteer projects on the trail. While this years project was not on the main trail / one of the Superior Trail Race race courses, it was certainly within our mission of giving back to and improving the trail for all trail users. Superior Trail Race volunteers and runners came together to build a 130+ boardwalk on the Bean and Bear Lakes Loop, you can see the project HERE https://photos.app.goo.gl/1vgaPgcn9KhA5gCP7 – All Superior Spring and Fall Trail Race runners got to run over a similar boardwalk this year between Moose and Mystery Mountains (about 2.5 mile from the race finish) that we built in the summer of 2024, you can see that project HERE https://photos.app.goo.gl/WG83rjotXahib4pc6
Please Take THIS Lodging Survey:
Our friends at Visit Cook County / Cook County Tourism are huge supporters of the Superior Trail Races. Please help us support them as they are looking for lodging data to help them better serve trail runners on both Superior Trail Race event weekends and throughout the year. Please take a moment to answer the three questions below. Thank You! https://forms.gle/ScU5bU56fnpKTkV88
Next Year
The Superior Fall Trail Race is always held the weekend after Labor Day, so that will be Friday September 11 and Saturday September 12, 2026 (pending the approval of our permit applications). The 15 day lottery registration period typically opens on January 1. The website will be updated with complete 2026 registration and event details by late fall / early winter 2025, stay tuned.
In Closing:
I cannot thank you all enough for being part of the Superior family! Thank you for an awesome 2025, we look forward to seeing you next year! As always, if you need anything please reach out.
With Gratitude,
John Storkamp
Race Director
Superior Trail Race
School buses dropping off runners at the Marathon race start on Saturday morning – photo credit Tryg Solberg
Feet itching to run – photo credit Bill Kelley
The ‘Wolfpack’ supporting their 100 mile runner – photo credit Anastasia Wilde
The 50 Mile race starts promptly at 5:15AM in Finland – photo credit Scott Rokis
Cramer Road aid station at night – photo credit Ryn Haaversen
Saturday morning’s stunning sunrise – photo credit Danica Nolton
Baptism River crossing outside of Finland – photo credit David Barbee
Sarah and pals running along the Temperance River – photo credit Katrina Gaisford
100 mile winner Jakob Wartman in the early miles at Blueberry Hill – photo credit Scott Rokis
Marathon winner Gabby Vandendries leading a small group between Cramer Road and Temperance River – photo credit Scott Rokis
Refueling at Mill City Running’s Temperance River Aid Station – photo credit Tryg Solberg
Ana convincing Trent to take one more bite – photo credit Christine Armbruster
Sinking in for Kimberly Madrid that she was going to make it to the finish – photo credit Anastasia Wilde
Periods of sun and rain on the Superior Fall Trail Race finish line at Caribou Highlands Lodge on Saturday – photo credit Tone Coughlin
Mel and Elliot Nelson running the 100 stride for stride and still getting along just fine – photo credit Da Ro
Julie and Lindsey finishing together in the rain – photo credit Scott Rokis
Misson accomplished for the ‘Mushroom Crew’ – photo credit Christine Armbruster
RD John Storkamp with 3rd place 50 mile finisher Carrier Henderson – photo credit Christine Armbruster
50 mile finishers Kelsey Hendrickson soaking it in – photo credit Scott Rokis
David and with mom Martje and girlfriend Ava at the finish line – photo credit Tone Coughlin